Is Hubby Healthy Enough for Lung Cancer Chemo?

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My husband was diagnosed with possible lung cancer stage IV with 14 tumors in his brain. He has agreed to brain radiation, and they are doing 15 treatments. He is in very bad physical shape. While in the hospital recently, he contracted brain meningitis, pneumonia , a sinus infection and a urine infection and lost 21 pounds. What chemo drugs, if any, can he be treated with? His back is in severe pain, and doctors are saying cancer may have spread there too.

The likelihood of having significant side effects from chemotherapy is much greater for people who are already in poor health. Also, the likelihood of gaining any major benefit from chemotherapy is significantly reduced for such people.

I cannot make judgments about your husband’s fitness to receive lung cancer chemotherapy without seeing him in person, but the problems you describe him having from a recent hospitalization suggest that he may not be well enough to withstand chemotherapy or benefit from it.

If his back pain is from cancer, then radiation treatments (sometimes just one or two fractions) can be an excellent way to control that pain. In some situations, it is best to narrow the choices of treatment to those which will reduce or prevent symptoms from the cancer (such as pain) as opposed to trying to actually treat the cancer itself.

All of his options, as well as their relative risks and benefits, should be discussed between you, your husband and his doctors.

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